nurmix

Tested with my System Changer... works fine.

Thanks dZ and Mark! I've lined up some more stuff for upcoming shows while at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo this weekend. Keep listening!

Thanks for your helpful suggestions. Interviews are taking place and being arranged along those lines.. Nothing is set in stone as far as episode vs. segment, but I think you will like what we come up with.

Great suggestions. I also want to hear about that stuff! I've already talked with Keith Robinson, and have lined up several other interviews with former "Blue Sky Rangers", so keep listening and hopefully we will be able to grant your wishes!

That's awesome. Great game too. And we had a good chat when I bought my copy at the last Classic Gaming Expo. In our next episode, we will mention your name, since we left it out of episode 1 when talking about your game! Doh!

Yep! I anticipate it will be ready in the last week of the month.

Something is in the works for a video companion to the reviews. I haven't even talked to Rick and William about it yet. That's how "breaking" this new is! Hahaha...

Monthly is what I'm aiming for as well. Putting together each episode should be easier now that most of the production setup and all the RSS / hosting / distribution is up and running.

Hi DoctorTom. Thanks for the feedback. Joystick / controller preferences are all subjective. Everyone prefers one over the other. That's the way it should be. As I mentioned in the show, I had both systems when they came out, as a kid. That said, I preferred the Intellivision controller over the Colecovision controller. To me, it was more comfortable in the hand, and more responsive. Was it perfect? No way. The internal mylar circuit matrixes would wear out over time (especially if you tended to press TOO HARD on the disc). Small cracks would develop, and the controller wouldn't respond properly. Also, maybe you were running into the "can't use the keypad and disc at the same time" issue we discussed, which, if you didn't know that was a system limitation, would lead you to believe the controller was defective. I'm guessing these things could have been what lead you to say that the system was "unplayable because of the controllers". And what do you consider to be the Intellivision controller's "far greater limitations"? We don't HATE other systems. I really like the Colecovision. I still have the original system I bought in 1982, along with all the expansion modules. However, when I play it, I prefer using the Super Action controllers, simply because the joystick is much more responsive. I'll even use a 2600 joystick if it's a single button / non-keypad game before using the original system controller. The stubby stick of the original controller just didn't work well, in my opinion. In a game like Smurf Rescue In Gargamel's Castle, you had to press UP or UP-RIGHT / UP-LEFT on the stick to jump. I can't tell you how many lives were lost simply because the joystick movement I was attempting to do didn't register. And in games that used both side buttons, I found it very uncomfortable after a few minutes due to the placement of the side buttons, and the size and shape of the controller. Again, my opinion. I'm sure others didn't have a problem with it. I know a lot of people dislike the Intellivision controller. That's fine. I, however, found it to be a good match for the system and it's games. It can cause your "disc thumb" to get sore after a while, and sometimes your fingers can also become a little tender after heavy side button use. But I don't know any controller around that doesn't cause similar symptoms. So, on this issue, I guess we agree to disagree. -Paul

Wow, thank you Oscar! I'm so pleased people are enjoying the show. It truly is a labor of love for all of us involved. And rest assured, the music and sounds effects will remain a part of the show.

Nor was I. My primary forum is Retrogaming Roundup, and to a lesser degree, here (although my intention is to be more active here as well). Anyway, I just joined the RVG forum and am also awaiting approval.

I talked to Joe about this at CGE (might have been 2010). You and I also talked a bit about a synthesizer program at CGE 2012. Yes, I would love a way to "tweak" the invidual sounds from the ECS/synthesizer (without using external processors). If that could be combined with a tracker/sequencer that would be great... but combining ECS/synth capabilities with a MIDI interface would be ideal. Did you ever see the Commodore 64 FastFingers Lead Synthesizer project that was made in 1984 by Dan Laskowski? It used the Commodore's SID chip (3 channels mixed together per patch) for the tones, and the Intellivision ECS keyboard to control it - via a custom hardware interface that Mr. Laskowski designed. Here is a YouTube video of him showing the system all these years later: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2GWi5-f_vY

That's the plan, dZ!

Thanks, Jason. Glad you liked the show. I intend to create a lot more original music for the podcast, including something that uses the synthesizer / ECS combo. I just wish it had MIDI capabilities so I could more easily use it with my sequencer (Cubase)...

Hey guys, great to see the positive feedback about the show. "Compare This" is a bit lengthy, I agree. But I wanted to incorporate it into the first episode because of the content relating to the early ads Mattel ran for the system. That's also why I chose to put the 2001 Theme in the beginning - since this was the version that played on the Intellivision's original in-store demo cartridge; which for many of us, was our first introduction to the system. The short bits of Intellivision music were put in there to break up the show segments a bit (as were the quick little game sound bumpers). That's a style I enjoy when listening to podcasts. I don't intend to over do it when it comes to music, but I would like to feature one song per episode that is Intellivision-related (I'm open to others submitting their original songs for episodes too, as long as they meet that criteria). But you do give me an idea for future episodes... maybe I will mention what songs were used - although all of this information is available in the Show Notes for each episode: http://www.intellivisionaries.com/Download_EP01.html And yes, the opening and closing music tracks are my original compositions. Glad you're enjoying them!

Wow, there's life in that bird! I wish I could offer some answers, but I never used one of those diagnostic cartridges. I wish you the best of luck though... Impressive work.

I'm impressed by your work! * For what it's worth to those reading this (other than Guitarman), I was the original owner of this Falcon. So, it would appear that it wasn't the Nemesis after all (or the DMA chip, which was my guess). Are you getting anything on the monitor when you power up? I would get a white screen, and maybe 1 out of 30 tries, the Falcon would boot to the desktop normally. When I attempted to bypass certain features of the Nemesis temporarily (the acceleration of the DSP, and then the DMA), I would get a black screen. Based on comp.sys.atari.st user suggestions, I was intending to replace the DMA chip (which is why it was removed from the motherboard when you bought the Falcon). I'd rather not talk about the mess I made during that procedure, but... moving right along... I did not have a Falcon test cartridge either, and pretty much gave up at that point. So, I'm following this thread with great interest. And I wish you the best of luck!